Publication Date: Friday Apr 17, 1998

PREP ROUNDUP: Sixteen strikeouts and a win

Perhaps the most noteworthy achievement by a Mid-Peninsula High baseball player last season was performed by pitcher Chris Russell, who struck out 18 and still lost the game.

Danny Pease is this season's Chris Russell. With one exception.

Pease, a senior, struck out 16 over seven innings Tuesday and won. His sparkling two-hitter was pretty much all the Dragons needed to subdue host Liberty Baptist in the Christian Private Schools Athletic League game.

Junior Jim Barefield contributed two hits for Mid-Peninsula, which improved to 2-0 in league and 3-4 overall for coach Chris Spano.

In Private Schools Athletic League play, Menlo remained perfect in league with a 10-0 "mercy" rule victory over outmatched Fremont Christian on Wednesday.

The Knights rapped 11 hits in the five-inning contest and have now tallied 22 runs and 26 hits in their past two games. Menlo received a big day from senior Eddie Montague.

The senior belted a double and triple in three hits and drove in three runs as Menlo grabbed a 5-0 lead after three innings. Montague has been on fire in his past two games with five hits, three extra-base hits and five RBI.

Senior John Schultz was flawless on the mound, allowing just two hits in the shutout win. Junior Brad Scheppler and senior Ted Curd added a pair of hits for Menlo, with Curd and Schultz each driving home two runs.

In the SCVAL De Anza Division, Palo Alto (3-7, 4-9) received a standout effort from sophomore Pat Frost, who yielded six hits, fanned five and earned his third victory of the season in a 5-2 complete-game win over visiting Los Gatos.

Frost also helped himself at the plate with a game-clinching two-run double to right-center field in the sixth inning that gave the Vikings a comfortable three-run cushion.

Senior shortstop Peter Conlon also doubled and turned in an unassisted double play to end the game. Junior Jordan French notched a pair of hits for Paly, which is off until next week when the Vikings play host to division-leading Wilcox on Wednesday and and second-place Cupertino on Thursday.

Gunn (5-3, 8-4-1) played its first game in two weeks and lost a golden opportunity to gain ground on SCVAL El Camino Division-leading Monta Vista after a tough 10-9 setback to host Saratoga.

Saratoga overcame a 7-1 second-inning deficit with 16 hits and scored the game-winning run with none out in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Gunn banged out 13 hits in the loss and was led by sophomore Anthony Rea and junior Eric Zweig, each of whom cracked a pair of doubles.

Senior Tyler Sullivan, who suffered the loss, had three hits and three RBI for the Titans.

In The Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division, Menlo-Atherton (2-3, 7-7) dropped its third straight league game Wednesday--an 11-2 shellacking to Half Moon Bay at Flood Park.

Half Moon Bay jumped out to a rapid 7-0 advantage after two innings and recorded 13 hits in the lopsided victory.

M-A was led by senior Rogelio Guerra's two hits and doubles by junior Isi Tuanaki and senior Shawn Phillips.

Swimming

The Palo Alto boys' and girls' teams begin their quests for SCVAL De Anza Division league-meet titles when the diving competition begins Tuesday at Palo Alto. The division finals will be April 24 at Lynbrook, starting at 1 p.m.

Both Paly teams will go into the league meet as dual-meet champions, barring upsets Thursday in dual-meet finals at Los Gatos. Both squads took 6-0 division marks (8-0 overall) into their respective meets following easy wins over Gunn this past week.

The Paly girls won every event but the 1-meter diving while splashing to a 140-46 win, which gave the Vikings 39 straight dual-meet wins and improved their league record to 40-1 since 1992.

The best swim of the day came in the 500-yard free, where Paly senior Caroline Kilian took over the CCS lead with a 4:58.31 clocking. She also won the 200 free and swam on two winning relays. Senior Hilary Peterson and sophomore Haley Champion did likewise, with Peterson taking the 200 IM and 100 fly and Champion winning the 50 free and 100 free.

In the boys' meet, Palo Alto won its 12th straight dual meet by posting a 127-56 triumph over the Titans. The Vikings won 10 of 12 events, with Gunn senior Dmitry Ayrapetov breaking Paly's hold on victories by winning the 50 free (22.23) and 100 fly (52.12)--both season-best times.

Paly juggled its lineup but still received standout efforts. Senior Jeff Hopwood posted two individual wins (200 free and 100 breast) and added legs on the winning 200 medley and 400 free relays. Freshman Eric DiIulio showed his versatility by winning the 200 IM and 100 back.

Boys tennis

Palo Alto (11-7), which finished second last weekend at the annual Logan Invitational, continued its late-season surge toward a possible CCS berth by toppling visiting Aragon, 5-2, Wednesday. Senior Neil Berman paced the Vikings at No. 1 singles with a 6-2, 6-1 win.

Track and field

While much of the annual Arcadia Invitational was rained out last weekend in Los Angeles, a few evening races did go off as scheduled. Palo Alto's Katie Brizgys and Colleen Wrenn took full advantage and posted season-best times in their respective events.

Brizgys ran her fastest time ever in the 3,200 meters, clocking 10:46.2 in a mixed race (boys and girls) to surpass her previous 1998 best of 10:57.2--currently the fastest CCS time this season.

Wrenn, who finished sixth in the state meet 800 last spring in a school-record 2:13.50, ran her fastest time since then by clocking a season-best 2:14.35 at Arcadia. 

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